ALTITUDE -IT'S ALL ABOUT GETTING HIGH
Coca Leaves
Chewed by the bucketload in Andean countries where the locals swear it prevents AMS - but does it work? People love to think so as they romanticise the meagre 0.8% cocaine content but sadly there is no proven benefit. Coca leaves can be used to make a rather nice cup of tea though.
Gingko
Gingko is a unique tree whose leaf contains a mix of chemicals known as turpenoids and flavenoids. There have been many sugested medicinal uses for Gingko including prevention of AMS but again no proven benefit - and sadly it doesn't make a decent cuppa either.
Did you know ?
*Everest is 8 848 metres above sea level BUT.....
*Chimborozo in Ecuador is only 6 287 metres above sea level yet the furthest from the centre of the Earth
*Mauna Key in Hawaii rises the furthest from its base at 10 200 metres
* Olympus Mons on Mars is actually 26km tall and still waiting to be conquered
*There are still mountains on Earth whose summits are yet to be climbed so you can still be the first to bag a peak - although none come with naming rights
Sir Edmond Hilary famously once said - " if you climb a mountain for the first time and die on the descent, is it really a complete first ascent of the mountain? I am rather inclined to think personally that maybe it is quite important the getting down, and the complete climb of a mountain is reaching the summit and getting safely to the bottom again" I tend to agree!